The Best Apps For Your New iPad, iPod, or iPhone

You are delirious with joy because you got a new Apple device for Christmas! Congratulations! You have been born again a third time. But then you enter the App Store, and you are confronted by hundreds of thousands of apps. You go into shock. You curl up in the fetal position and begin to weep. Curse you Apple developers, curses upon you and a thousand generations!?So many apps, so little time! Where to start?

That’s where I come in. Consider me your Apple optimal experience consultant. I’ve been using Apple products for some time now, and have experimented with hundreds of apps. Let me tell you where to get started. Here is a list of my favorite apps…

ESV Bible – The ESV Bible app is hands down, the most user friendly Bible app out there. Don’t mess around with YouVersion, or any of the other Bible apps. Simple, elegant, fast, no need for Wi-Fi. This one is your ticket to ride.

Desiring God – This app gives you free access to the enormous amount of material on the Desiring God website. Sermons, blog posts, books, it’s all there, and it’s all free.

Kindle – I do almost all my reading on the Kindle app for iPad. Why? Because Kindle versions are so much cheaper than physical books!Plus, I have all my books in one place, with all of my highlights instantly available. It’s really pretty incredible.

Facebook / Twitter – If you use Facebook or Twitter you should get the official apps.

Goodreads – If you are a prolific reader you should probably use the Goodreads website. If you use the Goodreads website, you should probably have the app.

ESPN ScoreCenter – You need to keep up on your teams. The ScoreCenter app makes that possible.

The Weather Channel – This is a dream come true for all you weather nerds. Instant access to 10 day forecasts, detailed maps, and extreme weather alerts.

Feedly – If you read more than three blogs, you need to use Google Reader. If you use Google Reader, you need to use Feedly. It allows you to quickly fly through hundreds of blog posts, picking out the ones that look interesting, and skipping over the rest. I’ve used the highly toted Reeder app, and I like Feedly much better. It syncs with Instapaper, which makes it even better.

30/30 – If you’re looking for a simple, elegant timer, this is your app.

iA Writer – If you’re planning on doing any serious writing on your iPad, this is a great, distraction free writing app. I use it a lot, both on my Mac and on my iPad. I sync between them by using Dropbox.

iAnnotatePDF – If you want to mark up a PDF file for potential changes, this is the perfect app.

Guitar Toolkit – This app is an absolute must have for any guitar player. It’s a tuner, it shows chord formations, it demonstrates various scales. I use this app all the time.

This American Life – “This American Life” is one of my favorite podcasts. The producers of the podcast weave together multiple true stories every week, the end result being a fascinating, intriguing podcast, that explores the depths of humanity. This app gives you access to every episode they’ve ever done.

Stitcher – Don’t mess around with downloading podcasts every week, then transferring them to your device. Stitcher lets you select your favorite podcasts, then listen to them on demand. Much simpler, much less downloading and transferring.

Dropbox – This service is the best way to share files with others, and the best way to sync files between multiple devices, such as an iPad and a computer.

Snapseed – A great photo editor that is relatively simple to learn. Useful for bloggers as well.

Spelltower – A great game for all you word game nerds. Scrabble and Boggle fans will especially like this one.

Reckless 2 – I don’t play many games on my iPad, but this one is a favorite.